GREEN BAY, Wis. — Wisconsin’s Travis Frederick is going to become the slowest center drafted by a National Football League team in 20 years.

As the saying goes, the farther Frederick goes, the worse he looks. His new employer almost can forget about him ranging far afield on screens, knocking defenders off piles downfield, coming across the field on a reverse or recovering a fumble close to the boundary.

That became apparent Feb. 23 when Frederick lurched down the FieldTurf surface at the combine in a pair of 40-yard dashes clocked at 5.56 seconds.

“I thought he’d run at least 5.4,” an executive in personnel said. “He’s not a good athlete on tape, but I didn’t think he’d run 5.6.”

To think Frederick dropped an estimated 20 pounds in seven weeks and still looked awful caused some but certainly not all teams that liked him to reevaluate.

“Yes, the workout did expose him,” said an AFC personnel man. “His feet are so (expletive) slow. He’s beginning to scare me the more I watch him. Before, I had him 25 to 40. There’s no way he goes first round now.”

When scouts assembled 10 days later at Wisconsin pro day, Frederick elected not to run another 40 and to go back to performing football drills only.

“His workouts were horrible, but I just don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” another AFC personnel director said. “He needs to quit losing weight and be a 335-pound Wisconsin guy. He’s talented. He’s going to start and be a good pro.”

From a historical perspective, Frederick’s 40 was remarkably bad.

The last center to be drafted that ran over 5.5 was John Wade, who ran 5.52 in 1998. A fifth-round pick, he went on to start 110 games in an 11-year career.

The last center to be drafted that ran slower than Frederick’s 5.56 was Mike Devlin in 1993. A third-round draft choice out of Iowa, he was clocked in 5.63 before becoming a starter in two of his seven seasons.

In the last decade, 12 centers have been drafted in the first two rounds. Starting from 2003, their 40 times were 5.25, 5.01, 4.93, 5.15, 5.22, 5.47, 4.87, 5.06, 5.24, 4.96, 4.99, 5.22, 5.17, 5.60, 5.31, 5.16 and 5.22.

A 40 time probably is less significant for an offensive lineman than any other position except specialists. Still, speed is one sign of athleticism, and Frederick’s 10-yard splits weren’t good, either.

“His play is more indicative of who he is than the 40 time,” Tennessee scout Johnny Meads said. “He can identify things and run the offensive line.”

One scout said Frederick, who scored 34 of a possible 50 on the Wonderlic intelligence test, “might be the smartest guy in the draft.” His intellect was renowned at Wisconsin, and line coaches that have interviewed him are amazed at his recall and football knowledge.

Last season, Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff used a second-round pick for what he hopes will be his center for the next decade in Wisconsin’s Peter Konz. He watched Frederick as the left guard in 2011 and at center last season, and is convinced he moves well enough to succeed.

“Sure he can,” said Dimitroff. “This guy is an urgent, aggressive, tough guy. He is adept and alert inside in a small area. He has really good feel for it.”

Since the football renaissance began at UW in 1990, one thing can be said about Badgers linemen. They don’t always run and work out well, but they almost always play.

Other than guard Bill Ferrario (6-2, 313, 5.52), the Green Bay Packers’ fourth-round draft in 2001 whose playing time consisted of the equivalent of 11/2 games, every lineman of substance started at least 10 games in the NFL (measurements, 40 times reflect pre-draft workouts).

“Wisconsin guys have played well in the league,” an AFC personnel man said. “Frederick can play center, but I think he’s going to play guard. I think he’s a second-round pick, but he may go in the back end of the first because there’s not that many centers.”

The Badgers’ faithful will be following Frederick’s fortunes, of course, but with an abnormally large number of capable offensive linemen in the draft he will take a backseat early in the draft.

The record for most O-linemen selected in the first round, which was eight in 1996 and 2008, could be threatened.

“It’s hard to find left tackles in this league,” said Howie Roseman, general manager of the Philadelphia Eagles. “At the top it’s a really good group. Then you’ve got a chance throughout to address the position. It’s a meat and potatoes draft, an O-line, D-line sort of draft.”

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